Method of making prepared roofing



W. F. MCM/1W. METHOD of MAKING PREP/men BooHNG.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 7. 1915.

Patented Aug 3119 4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

V @gg @y W. F. MCKAY. METHOD 0F MAKING PREPARED ROOFING.

APPLICATION FILED DEC, 7, I9I5.-'

.Patented Aug. 3L IQZ.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

w. F. MCM/m METHOD 0F MAKING PREPARED ROOFING.

APPLICATION'HLED DEc.7.1915.

L 35 l y l 1L D 19m-eme@ Aug. 3L 1192@ 4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

W. F. MCKAY.

METHOD 0F MAKING PREPARED Rooms.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 7. i915.

L 35 l 1 ll Pfma Aug., 3L 39%@ 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

vez:

WllLLl'AM F. MCKAY, 0F LA GRANGE, XLLINOJIS.

emerson or Marine rewritten acorn-re.

To all who/m, t may Concern:

Be it known 'that l, VViLmAM F. Molini?, a citizen of the llnitedStates, residing at lia Grange, in the county of @ook and State ofllllinois, have invented certain new and useful lmprovements in Methodsof Making ll'repared Roofing, of which the following 1s a specification.l V

My invention relates to the art'of making prepared roofing, and has forits general object to provide a method of making, 1n sheet form,prepared roofing material that, when laid, will simulate in reliefdesired patterns of ordinary roofs, such as shingle roofs for example. v

A further object of my invention is to provide a method of producing, inprepared roofing, fictitious or illusory shadow effects that, patternedsuitably on prepared roofing material7 create the optical impression, inthe laid roofing', of deep relief effects, and that preferablyexaggerate true-relief patterns physically provided in the laid roofing.

@ther objects of my invention are to provide a method of manufacturethat is simple, inexpensive, efcient, and productive of commerciallyadvantageous roofing material and other objects will become apparent tothose skilled in the art from the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figures 1A, 1B,and-lC jointly represent, conventionally, means suitable for thepractice of my invention.

Fig. 2 represents a pattern roller in longitudinal section.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation thereof.

Fig. et is a section of the roller on line 11-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of one product of my method of manufacture.

Fig. 6 is an exaggerated fragmental section of a shadow effect shingleformation.

Fig. 7 is a plan'view of a shadoweffect shingle-imitation sheet.

By the practice of my invention l am able to produce, by a continuousprocess, sheets of'ornamental roofing of any desired length adaptedsubsequently to be cut into units of any desired size, and havingimpressed patterns in low relief simulating the designs of ordinaryroofs, such for instance as shingles. Further by the practice of myinvention l produce ornamental roofing sheets having predeterminedillusory-shadow areas wrought by exposing a dark plastic Specificationof Letters Patent. llDgttrifttetll Alltag., gli, llHJZ.

Application filed December 7, 1915.

Serial No. 65,613.

layer in appropriate relation to a lighter colored color-coat andarranged to afford in the laid roofing an illusion of depth of reliefgreater than any physically present in the structure. Also, by thepractice of my invention l may combine the advantageous effects of truerelief expressed in the physical conformation of the structure, land theillusory shadow-effect mechanically produced, and such benefits l attainby a series of steps resulting in the rapid, continuous and economicalproduction of a commercially, mechanically, and artistically-improvedarticle.

For purposes of full disclosure l have shown in the drawing a single setof instrumentalities suitable for operation in accordance with myinvention to produce a shingle-simulating roofing that may be sold insheets and with the shingles simulated by slight elevations anddepressions in a main plastic coating of the sheet, but in its broaderaspects my invention is no t limited to the pattern-form that isimparted to the roofing nor to the size of the article as finally cutfor sale. Also l have shown the productionof shadow effect only withrespect to such a shingle-pattern roofing, but it will be understoodthat in its broader aspect the steps of my process producingA theshadow-effect construction may be pracf tised with respect to anydesired pattern and on pieces of any desired size.

10 indicates a roller carrying a web A; of foundation material,preferably pervious felt, of suitable width, that is fed over` guides 11to a tank 12 into and through which it passes under the guidance ofrollers 14C thatv direct it in a suitable series of courses or flightsto keep each portion of the felt in the tank for an adequate time, say 1or 3 minutes depending on thickness. The tank contains an asphalticcompound 15, as a suitable form of water proofing material, and the fcompound is kept hot for effective penetration into the felt, by aheater 16.

The web A passes thence through pinch rollers 17 that remove surpluscompound, and then the saturated felt passes in successive courses overthe rollers 18 of a drying rack 19, so that, by exposure to the air thesaturated felt is dried 'sufliciently for ease of further handling. Whenit leaves the drier the felt is preferably still somewhat tacky,

The webA passes guidedly to driven rollers 21, 21', that serve to drawit from the original supply-roller 10, and next the web is coated,preferably on one 'side only, with a layer of weather-proofing compoundB, preferably asphaltic, that when supplied is hot and thickly fluid,but that in cooling w1ll hold the shape, into which it may be molded andwhen thoroughly cooled, will be .hard

enough to preserve its contour under maximum sun-heat, The body, of,compound, shown at 22, is supplied from a hopper-tank 23 throughspreading-spout 24 located between the roller-pair 21 2l and asucceeding,- adjustable roller-pair 25-25 'f which determines thethickness' of the. coating. Surplus material escapes over the edges ofthe web'into a tank 26 intowhich the roil.- ers 2l', 25 dip, said 'tank'preferably being provided with a heat coil 27 and with an outlet valve28 that leads into a main tank 29 in which a store of the lcompound iskeptv hot by a heater 30 and fonr whichthe hot compound is pumped, asneeded, into hopper-tank 23,.v by pump 31, through piping 32.

Usually one side only of the web is coated with the compound B, butwhen. it isdesired to coat both sides, the valve 28 is closed oradjusted to maintain'a level of compound in tank 26 suflicient toimmersetheh lower part of the rollers 21', 25', and such rollers :carrylthe compound to the undersideof the` web. :v Y v I Beyond thethickness-determining `rollers 25-25, the 4weather-resisting'layer orcoatlng B, while hot, is coated preferably uniformly', with a topdressing of suitable comminuted materials'upplied from a'hopper'35 that^is provided with a suitable feed regu? later and agitator,A asin roller36, and valve slide 37. When, as inV some instances may be desirable, itis intended fte-supply. a uniform-colored dressing that will extenduninterruptedly over the top surface lof the sheet whenv completed, thevalve is adjusted and the hopper is used, tol supply a powderedsubstance, vas powdered slate, soapstone, talc, orthe like; and whenshadoweffect roofing, as hereinafter described, .is to be produced, thevalve is suitably adjusted, and the hopper-used, to supply a relativelythick layer of `predominatingly coarser material, such, for example, as

granules and flakes of slate or sandstone such as will mainly notvpassthrough a l40 the asphaltic coating throughout the sub- 'sequentltreatment of the coated web, there being in such a powdered coating anabsence of those'extensive and communicating voids that characterize acoarsergranular dressing and that permit the shadoweffects hereafterdescribed to be obtained.

Therefore, for 'purposes of further de-` .Scription I will assume thatthe body 38 ofV material in the hopper 35 is of the coarser character;andthe material employed, while it may be widely varied" in specificnature should be firm or solid enough to withstand pressure withoutlosing its shape, should be coarse enough to afford many and relativelyextensive communicating voidsjwhen laid in a layer that will cover andconceal the vunderlying black plastic material to which the layeradheres, and, preferably, it should be composed of particles irregularin contour. .l

The rrather-thick layer of preponderatingly coarse particles-thicklyenough laid 4to coneal substantially completely the blackasphaltic'layer B-is pressed lightly and uniformly on the yet-mobileasphaltic layer, as by passing the'w'eb'under a watercooled smoothingroller or drum 40, and

' thence the web is led over an annular guide roller 4l to thepattern-producing means 42.

The pattern' producing means 42 may.

take divers forms, that which I prefer and show being abacking roller 43over which the back of the sheet runs and adjustable' with respect to apattern-surfaced pressureroller 44 that may be of metal, kept wet forandprevention from sticking by running its lower portion in a bathofwater (preferably soapy) intrough 45. The still-hot plastic coating isin condition to receive and retainv patterns impressed therein by thefirmly opv posed pressure of the pattern-roller, and thesurface-conditions brought about at this step of the process remainundisturbed' as the web passes on' over a driven roller 46 and idlers47'and 48 to the cooling appa,

ratus where the coated web is cooled to take its final set before beingdivided and ,rolled for shipping.

In the roofing industry the simulation 'of shingles in prepared roofingis but one manina j festation of the effect that has been made for manyyears past to provide a prepared roofing which, when laid, will bevrelieved of the displeasingly thin, cheap-looking monotonous appearancethat has characterized sheet-roofing generically. Roofing has beenprovided with edges cut to simulate shingles, tile, and other ordinaryroof-units and has been laid or built up in overlapping courses, eitherin single color or in alternating colors, and sharp outlines have beenpresented in contrasting colors, and other more or less expensivedevices have been devised in order to overcome the serious objection,

' represent shingle-butts, tile butts, or other physical projectionscharacteristic of the ordinary roofs. Comparative thinness is anecessity in most forms of prepared rooting,

for when thickened to more than, say one veighth or one sixth of an inchas a maximum, the increased expense and weight of the material detractsfrom the very advantages, of low cost, small shipping expense, ease ofhandling, etc., that make prepared roofing a merchantable commodity. Andespecially in any roofing to be sold in roll form, comparativeuniformity of depth of the coating material is highly desirable, if notimperative, in order that the material may be rolled and unrolledwithout injuring its exposed surface, and may not be damaged in use byunequal expansion and contraction of portions of different thick ness.

By my present process l am able to provide in one very advantageousfashion prepared roofing taking a wide variety of spe cific forms, andwhich, when laid, will accentuate any relief, or differences ofelevation in the laid surface, by fictitious deep shadow areas andshadow-blend areas that create the optical illusion of depth of reliefmuch in excess of the actual relief afforded, or that can be afforded,within the depth of the roofing material.-

ln carrying out my present invention l provide. the coarse or granularcolor-layer C, as described, of material of a relatively light color andemployed the dark, generally black, color of the asphaltic layer inpredetermined display with respect to the color-layer material tofictitiously present the desired deep shadow and shadow-blend areas. lnso doing ll operate upon the layer E of light colored, coarse material,that is initially laid adheringly on the surface of the black plasticlryer to cover the same, depressing the particles to submerge them totheir crests or pressure-contact surfaces in the asphaltic substance inthe areas that have been selected for representation of deep shadow, anddepressing them to gradually decreasing extent in the shadow-blend areasbetween the said deep shadow areas and those full-color areas where thecolor layer continues resident on top of the plastic layer forsubstantially covering and effectively concealing the black asphalticcoat. lt will be appreciated that, as thickly laid on and lightlypressed upon the surface of the asphaltic coat B, the coarse particlesof the color-layer C present very many irregular surface voids and thatthe layer as a whole is readily permeable by the hot asphalt whenpressure is applied to the contact surfaces of the granules to depressthem into asphaltic compound. Hence, the farther the granules aredepressed the more the black asphaltic material is displayed and whencomplete submergence of the granules to their crests is attained theblack predominates over the color of the granular coat.

@f course the submergence of the colore coat produces, in itself, somethinning of the sheet below the maximum depth represented by the areaswhere the color coat is fully exposed, and it is my preference that deepshadow values be expressed in areas where in the laid roof, maximumdepth of true relief is physically presented.

lt will be apparent that in practice many and varied shadow effectpatterns may be impressed in accordance with the desired ornamental orimitation-effects in the finished roof, and that the singleexemplification of this phase of my invention herein given, in ashingle-roof imitation, is for purposes of disclosureonly and not by wayof limitation.

As herein shown, the pattern roller 44 has its surface arranged in aseries of courses 50 corresponding with taper courses of a shingle roof,and the narrow blades 51 cross-the tapered recesses at intervals tosimulate, in the product, kerfs or open spaces between adjacent shinglesof the given course.

In practice the pressure exerted on the rolls should be such, and eachroll-course should be so shaped that the plastic material is forced intoshape presenting in low reliefl shingle-butt simulations 53, in the formof abrupt edges which bottom at the lowest levels of the taper-surfacesthat conform somewhat to the slope of a shingle face.

`Where the surface color is to be uniform, due to a top dressing ofpowdered material, and depth of physical relief alone is depended on forsimulation of the shingleroof appearance, the roll-courses shouldpreferably be made with taper faces throughout, so as to produce aneffect as shown in Fig. 5, and the pressure should best be such as to'produce as high relief as is physically possible with the roll. Whereshadow-effect is employed, however, as illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 thereliefv at the shingle butts 53 may be lower' and the tapers 54 mayaffect the plastic coating only part of the course-length and the rollmay be shaped accordingly or employed under lighter pressure.

ln producing the shadow effect shown in Figs. 6 and 7, pressuresutlicient to embed the coarse color-coat particles to ltheir crestsconstituting their contact surfaces is confined to the areas 5G of thematerial close to the edges 53 and to the sharply defined kerfs andthrough selected shadow-blend areas 5T the pressure is graduallydecreased coat; and in the deep shadow areas the black of the asphalticcoating predominates owing to the large aggregate extent of its exposurein the surface voids of the granular coating.

rl`he illusory shadow effect produced by the intermingling of thelighter colored particles and darker asphaltic coating gives to theproduct an appearance of relief-depth much greater than that physicallypresent, and yet the predominance of the lighter color of the granulesover large areas of the product, aided by the ,continued, thoughdilninishing display of light 'colored particles toward and in the deepshadow areas conveys to the eye ctitiously the semblance of uniformcolor, merely over-shadowed because of depth of physical depressions inthe surface.

The web A,.after its treatment aforesaid to produce the physical relief,with or without correlated illusory shadow-eects, as described passesover the guide rollers -65 which may be water cooled to absorb portionsof the heat of the relatively ,hot sheet and spaced apart so as toexpose relatively large surface areas of the sheet to the cooling effectof the contacting air. 'lhe sheet may then be slitted, by the slittingknives 67-67 into multiple strips that may each contain a desired numberof shinglecourses, after which the strips pass between driving rollers68-68 on to guide tables 69-69 respectively, after which the strips maybe wound into rolls Z0-70', respectively, for shipment. t

While ll have herein described with particularity the details of oneadvantageous practice of my invention and means suitable for thespecifeduses, it will be understood that many changes in detail may bemade within the spirit of my invention and the scriple of the appendedclaims.

aving described my invention, what ll claim is:

1. Steps in the art of making roong and the like, which consist indepositing upon a constantly moving sheet a uniform' coating of hotplastic material; effectively ycovering saidcoating with a granularcoating, of color contrasting with that of said plastic material andbefore said plastic material cools, pressing portions of said granularcoating into said plastic material 1n tapering zones graduallyincreasing to varying depth thereby to submerge certain granularparticles in said plastic materialto greater extent than others andthereby more or less isaiasi gradually to blend the colors of saidcoatin constantly moving sheet, a uniform coating of hot plastlcmaterial; effectively covering said sheet with a granular coating ofcolor,`

contrasting with that of said plastic material, and before said plasticmaterial fcools, pressing portions ,ofl said granular coating togradually increasin depth tosubmerge 2.'.Steps in the art ofmakingrooing or. l the like, which consist in depositing upon ae intosaid plastic material in tapering zonesV certain granular particles insaid plastic material to greater extent than others to blend more orless gradually the colors of said coatings, and-pin other adjacent,zones submerging other granular particles in said plastic material,l byapplication of greaterpressure to expose the plastic materialpreponderatingly.

3. Steps in the art of making roong or l the like, which consist indepositing upon a constantly moving sheet, a uniform coating of hotplastic material; placing on said sheet a granular coating, of colorcontrasting with that of said plastic material, and before said plasticmaterial cools, impressing in the yielding materials tapering zonesvflat surface a coating of plastic material;

effectively covering said material with a coating of granular material,of'color contrasting with that vof the plastic material,

and submerging Vin said plastic material certain of the particles ofsaid granular maf terial to a greater or less degree than otherparticles i in tapering zones gradually in-V creasing in depth t blendthe colors of the said coats.

5. Steps in the art vof makingrooing or i vthe like, which consist i'nvdepositing upon a base sheet a coating of plastic material; effectivelycovering said sheet with a granular coating, of color contrastinglylighter than that of said plastic material; impressing abrupt, sharplydefined shoulders inthe face of said sheet and submerging certainparticles ofthe granular material in said plastic material, in taperingzones extending from said shoulders in decreasing depth in v I which theexposure of said granular material gradually increases as the'depth`decreases toward. the submerged particles to blend the colors ofthe coats thereby to produce an exaggerated shadow effect of saidshoulders.

12sr i 46. The art of making roofing, r the like,l

which consists in substantially saturating a sheet of absorbent materialwith a Waterproofing substance While hot; partlally cooling said strip;depositing thereon a imv `,tity substantially to conceal the plasticlayer material to appear causing the dark plastic to gradually betweenthe granular particles, increasing extent. I

8. Steps in the art of making roong and the like which consist incoating a plastic surfaced sheet with a layer of contrastingly coloredgranular material, and in selected zones submerging the granules of thelayer to increasing depth into the plastic, thereby blending graduallythe colors ofthe plastic and the granular layer.

ln testimony whereof hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

i WlLLlAM F. MCKAY.

ln the presence` off lBoRn BAIN, Meer F., Amis.,

coating of plastic material; applying-a coat of granular material onsaid plastic coat, of color contrasting With that of said plastic coat;applying pressure in selected zones to submerge portions of saidgranular material in varying degrees in said plastic coat; con-ytinuously moving the sheet and coating the finished sheet while moving.

7. Steps in the art of making prepared roofing which consist inproviding a layer of dark plastic material and producing a slnadoW-eectxon certain areas of said layer by depositing on said layer a body oflighten' colored granular particles suiiicient in quanin. selected areasthereof, 'and` depressing such particles to gradually increasing depthinto the plastic layer in selected areas, so

